The maybe_unserialize function in WordPress is used to unserialize a serialized value only if it was serialized. This means that if the input is not serialized, it will return the original value without any changes.
This function is particularly useful when handling data that may or may not be serialized, such as data retrieved from a database or user input.
Example Usage Code:
$serialized_data = 'a:2:{s:4:"name";s:6:"Alice";s:3:"age";i:30;}';
$unserialized_data = maybe_unserialize($serialized_data);
var_dump($unserialized_data);
// Output: array(2) { ["name"]=> string(5) "Alice" ["age"]=> int(30) }